Crazy Little Thing Called Imprinting
by mz kittyy
Summary: Paul has imprinted - on Ruby; a stubborn, fiery, vivacious girl who despises our favourite hot-tempered werewolf. Watch the sparks fly as Paul finally meets his match! Paul/OC.
1. Chapter 1

**CRAZY LITTLE THING CALLED IMPRINTING**

**By mz kittyy**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, Stephanie Meyer does!  
**

**SUMMARY: Paul has imprinted! On Ruby; a stubborn, fiery, vivacious girl who despises our favourite hot-tempered werewolf. Watch the sparks fly as Paul finally meets his match!**

**A/N: **Okay, so I know that Paul imprinted on Jacobs sister, Rachel. But I really wanted to write a Paul/OC story so I am completely disregarding the whole Rachel/Paul thing. I hope you enjoy it :)

**CHAPTER ONE**

Ruby Daniels carefully made her way down the crowded hallway of La Push High. She had lost count of the number of people who had bumped into her, however she wasn't too fussed as they had all murmured quick, polite apologies before continuing their hurried walks to class.

The second (and last) warning bell rang out loud and clear, letting the students know that they had only a few minutes left to get to class.

Ruby sighed heavily, shifting her stack of biology textbooks from her right arm to her left, and quickened her pace towards the small classroom situated conveniently at the opposite end of the hall.

All of a sudden, something _huge _knocked into her. With a yelp of surprise, her hands flew up into the air, letting go of her books and scattering them along the marble floor as she lost her balance, falling heavily against the row of metal lockers lined up against the wall to her left.

"Watch where you're going," a harsh, arrogant voice snapped.

Ruby's hazel eyes narrowed dangerously as she straightened herself up. _Oh no he didn't, _she thought to herself savagely.

"I could say the same to you," she retorted coolly. "You're the one who bumped into me."

"Excuse me?" his voice spoke out loud and clear, tinged with annoyance and a hint of anger as he turned back to face her.

Paul Stanmore. An arrogant, hot-tempered, rude boy who was well known throughout the school to get into numerous pointless fights. An absolute asshole.

A look of pity marred Ruby's pretty face. "Awww, you're deaf as well as stupid," she pouted at him. "Such a pity."

She crossed her slender arms and smirked confidently, meeting his gaze for the first time, daring him to bite back.

But he didn't speak a word. Instead, he just stared at her as if he had never seen a girl before in his life. A look of confusion was etched into his handsome face, his brows furrowed as his expression changed to a look of pure disbelief. And an unrecognizable emotion glinted out at her from his dark chocolate brown eyes.

Ruby was the first to break eye contact, silently cursing herself for looking away first, but he was starting to seriously creep her out.

"Geez, take a picture, it'll last longer," she said sarcastically, crouching down to pick up her textbooks.

* * * * *

"Paul..." one of his friends spoke up, giving him a push.

Paul snapped out his daze immediately, shaking his head in confusion. He briefly caught a look of annoyance on Ruby's pretty face, before she bent down and picked up her various books that had fallen to the ground. She straightened herself up, tossing her strawberry-blonde hair behind her shoulders.

"Jerk," she muttered as she walked past him.

Before he could stop himself, his gaze had followed her, turning his whole body around as he stared at her retreating figure.

_What the...?_

"Paul, man," Jared said, his voice a bit louder than before. "You alright?"

Paul's throat felt tight and closed up, and he swallowed anxiously before answering his best friend.

"I think I just imprinted."

**A/N: Sooo, what do you think? I'm sorry it was so short, but I just wanted this chapter to be an introduction so I didn't make it too long! Please review and let me know what you think! Oh and also, I didn't know Paul's last name so I just made up one, but does anyone know what it is? Thanks for reading :)**

**xoxo -Kath-**


	2. Chapter 2

**CRAZY LITTLE THING CALLED IMPRINTING**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Twilight, Stephanie Meyer does!

**CHAPTER TWO**

Ruby stomped into her Biology classroom angrily, murmuring a quick apology to her teacher, Ms Harrows, for being late. She proceeded towards a single desk at the back of the classroom, throwing down her books and sitting down.

"What's with you?" Tasha Bates whispered from the seat next to her.

"I kind of got into a fight," Ruby whispered back to her best friend. "I'll tell you about it later."

Ms Harrows was glaring at both of them. Ruby faced the front of the classroom, sitting up straighter and trying to pay attention as the teacher began the lesson. She found Biology completely and utterly _boring _and _pointless. _Why in the world would she need to know the stages of flower growth? She sighed, leaning back in her chair as she silently seethed with anger.

It seemed like hours, but finally the bell rang and Ruby immediately stood up, gathered her books and trounced out of the classroom sighing gratefully.

"Now, will you please tell me what happened?" Tasha demanded impatiently as the two girls walked down the hallway. "Who did you get into a fight with?"

"Paul Stanmore," Ruby grimaced at his name, proceeding to recount the entire story to Tasha. When she was finished, Tasha looked positively furious.

"What an asshole," she growled.

"I know," Ruby agreed. "I mean, he walks around like he's bloody Gods gift to women, with those _stupid _muscles and his _stupid _haircut."

"Mmm," Tasha responded. "He _is _good-looking though, you have to admit."

"Sure he is, and I'll bet he knows it too!" Ruby answered as they reached her locker.

"Well, don't let him get to you," Tasha cautioned. "Anyway I'd better get to class. What do you have now?"

"English," Ruby replied, her thin lips pulling down into a frown as she dialed her locker combination. "With Paul, conveniently." She made a face as her locker door swung open.

"Good luck," Tasha grinned. "See you at lunch!" She turned around to walk down the hallway towards her next class.

Ruby stacked her numerous books onto the top shelf of her locker, then rummaged around in her large black shoulder bag for her English textbook. She finally found it, pulling it out as well as a copy of _Romeo and Juliet, _the novel they were currently studying.

Ruby detested the stupid love story with a passion. While Tasha absolutely loved the romantic yet tragic tale of two star-crossed lovers and longed to find true love of her own one day, Ruby herself wasn't altogether interested. A child of divorce, her parents had spent all their time together fighting for as long as Ruby could remember, before finally deciding to do 'the right thing' and break up for good when she was 7 years old. Ruby's mother had opted to stay in Seattle with Ruby (she hadn't wanted to move and leave all of her friends behind) and her father had moved to La Push where Ruby had visited him every summer up until about six months ago, when she had gotten herself expelled from her high school in Seattle for fighting. Ruby had been going through a particularly rebellious stage where she would skip school, sneak out to parties each night and get herself into quite a bit of trouble, until a tragic event happened and changed her whole outlook on life in general. Her mother had then decided that banishing Ruby to a small town for a while would calm down her rebellious nature and help her to heal. She had arrived in La Push battered and bruised, but filled with positivity and a strong determination to turn her life around and make something of herself. Now she was actually going to school and studying and making friends, and once she had finished school, she was planning on going to college to become a doctor.

The reason for Ruby's dislike of _Romeo and Juliet _was purely because she wasn't sure whether she believed in true love and all that jazz. And well, could you blame her? If her parents relationship, the ideal figure of _true love _and _happiness_ in every child's life_, _couldn't survive marriage and children and all the adversity that comes with it, what hope did she have of finding ever-lasting happiness? She'd had her fair share of relationships over the past few years, but each had ended after only a few months as Ruby tended to stop them before they went too far. Most people would call it a fear of commitment, due to her parents divorce, but Ruby simply saw it as stopping herself from getting hurt.

Suddenly, Ruby found herself approaching her English classroom and she gave her head a quick shake to rid herself of her daydreams. Odd, how sometimes one can get so absorbed within their own mind that they lose the ability to pay attention to their surroundings.

Ruby followed the line of students into the classroom, walking down the line of desks and taking a seat at the back once again. She slouched down in her seat, gazing towards the front as the teacher began roll call.

"Ruby Daniels?" Ms Cambridge called out.

"Here," Ruby answered back.

"Paul Stanton?" Ms Cambridge called again. "Where is Paul today?"

Ruby sat up a little straighter in her seat, quickly scanning the small classroom. Nope, he wasn't here. A grin started to slowly spread across her face, and she quickly wiped it away.

"Paul wasn't feeling too well so he went home," a male voice spoke up. Ruby recognized him as one of Paul's friends, either Jared or Embry, she couldn't remember which one.

"Thank you, Mr Call," the teacher answered, scribbling something down on the roll call sheet.

Ruby relaxed in her seat once again, letting out a small sigh of relief. At least she didn't have to face him anytime soon. On the other hand, she now had a whole hour to listen to the teacher drone on and on about stupid _Romeo and Juliet. _English was the one class she didn't share with any of her friends, although there was that Kim girl who usually sat in front of her. She was nice enough, just a bit shy so they didn't often talk save for the rare occasion of when the work required partners.

Ruby glanced quickly at the clock. It was only half past ten. Forty-five minutes to go. She let her eyelids droop, not even attempting to listen to what the teacher was saying.

Finally, lunch time arrived. Ruby quickly stuffed her books into her locker and walked eagerly towards the cafeteria, deciding to stop by Tasha's locker on the way to wait for her. Luckily, she didn't have to wait long as Tasha was already there, putting her books away.

"Hey," she greeted her friend, flashing her a friendly smile as she leaned up against the lockers. "Hurry up, I'm starving."

"Me too," Tasha replied. "I thought this morning was never going to end!" She closed her locker door, locking it firmly and the two of them began walking towards the cafeteria with the rest of the students.

"Okay, so what happened in English with Paul?" Tasha asked eagerly. "Did you let him have it?"

Ruby laughed lightly with amusement. Tasha _loved _drama.

"Actually, he wasn't there," she answered. "Apparently he went home sick. Thank god. The less I see of him, the better. I mean, did you hear about how he got detention last week for punching that Brendan guy?"

"And he totally made Chloe Davies cry a few weeks ago when he went off at her for bumping into him," Tasha added.

"He needs to take anger-management classes," Ruby stated. "Or at least try yoga or boxing or something."

They finally reached the cafeteria and grabbed a tray each, filling them with food. The cafeteria was already pretty crowded, and thankfully their other friends had already secured them a table off to the side. They placed down their trays as soon as they reached the table, greeting everyone as the sat down and began to eat.

"We should so go down to First Beach this weekend," Simone Mathers announced, pushing her curly black hair behind her ears. "I heard the weathers going to be great. Blue skies, sun actually appearing for once and not a cloud in the sky!"

"Sounds great," Tristan Elcar added, his grey eyes lighting up with excitement.

"You guys in?" Simone asked the rest of them, and a chorus of "sures" sounded back at her.

_Good, something to look forward to, _Ruby thought. Now all she needed was to get through the rest of the day.

Finally, the bell rang and the day was over. Ruby pushed her way outside, where a cold wind was blowing through the air. She shivered, pulling the sleeves of her jacket down as her eyes searched for her friends. Finally, she spotted them sitting on the wall just outside the school gates and she made her way towards them.

"I'm so glad today is finally over," Ruby announced when she was within hearing distance.

"Me too," Corinne Taylor, one of Ruby's other friends, agreed as she hopped off the wall and picked up her school bag.

"I'm going to bed as soon as I get home," Tasha added as the three girls started walking, making their way home.

"I wish I could, but I need to babysit Madison," Ruby said, referring to her five-year-old stepsister. "Parent-teacher interviews tonight."

"Damn, I was going to ask if you'd both come over for a bit later on," Corinne said. "It's my date with Todd tonight and I need your help deciding what to wear!" Corinne and Todd had liked each other for ages, him finally asking her out a few days ago after Simone had casually told him that Corinne liked him.

"Well I'll come over," Tasha replied.

"You should wear a skirt," Ruby told her. "Or at least an off-the-shoulder top. Show a bit of skin."

"Yeah, that sounds good," Corinne smiled. "I am so excited!"

For the rest of the walk home (which was only a brief fifteen minutes or so), they discussed Corinne's date that night. What she was going to wear, where he would take her, if he would kiss her and how cute Todd was. They reached Ruby's house first and she gave both girls a quick hug goodbye, wishing Corinne good luck.

She walked up the driveway towards my house. It was a fairly small two-story red-bricked house with a long driveway and a white picket fence. There were beautiful gardens filled with flowers and plants everywhere, as gardening was a hobby of her stepmothers. She walked around the back and entered the house through the back door, coming into her kitchen where Anna, her step-mother was bustling around the kitchen. Madison was seated at the round wooden table, using her new crayons in her colouring-in book. They both looked up when she walked in.

"Ruby!" Madison squealed in excitement, momentarily abandoning her colouring and running towards her. She threw her small arms around her bis sisters waist and she bent down to hug her back.

"Hey Maddy," Ruby greeted her back. "Whatcha doing kiddo?"

"Mummy brought me a new colouring book!" Madison told me. "It's a princess colouring book and I'm doing Ariel first cos' she's my favourite." Ruby let her lead her by the hand towards the table. The book was open to a page that had a picture of Ariel from The Little Mermaid on it and it was half-coloured in, not very well, but she still smiled and complimented her on it.

Madison was Ruby's five-year-old stepsister. She was a beautiful child, with dark chocolate brown hair that hung in ringlets, skin the colour of coffee that had a bit too much milk added to it and she had the same hazel eyes that Ruby had inherited from her father.

"Hey Ruby," Anna, her stepmother greeted her with a warm smile. "How was your day?"

"Boring as hell," Ruby answered, seating herself down at the table and pulling Madison onto her lap. "As usual."

"Would you like something to eat?" Anna asked her. "I just cut up some fruit for Madison."

"I'm not that hungry yet," Ruby replied. "I'll wait for dinner."

Ruby's father had married Anna six years ago. At first Ruby was deadset against the marriage, as Anna was only 26 at the time and Ruby's father was 38. Anna didn't even look like somebody's mother, she was tall and slender with lightly tanned skin and dark brown hair that was cut into a smooth bob, although nowadays that she had Madison to look after, it was usually pulled back into a messy ponytail, though she still looked stunning. She had never really given Anna a chance until she moved to La Push to live with her father, where Anna had grown up. Then Ruby had found that Anna wasn't the wicked stepmother that Ruby had always thought she was, Anna was lovely, she was a good mother (being a stay at home mum) and tried her best to establish a good relationship with Ruby. Ruby no longer had any reason to resent her, like she did when she was younger.

"There's some chicken in the fridge and I made a fresh salad as well for your dinner," Anna said. "Your father and I are going out for dinner before the interviews, then we'll be back around 9."

Richard, Ruby's father, was due home any minute. He was a veterinarian and worked at the animal hospital over in Forks, the neighboring town. Ruby and her father had always been close, she had missed him when she was living with her mother in Seattle. Ruby felt bad that she had caused both her parents some trouble with her rebellious nature, and she was trying to make it up to them by studying hard and doing well at school and not getting into any more fights or sneaking out to go to parties.

It wasn't long before Ruby's father got home and after a quick greeting to his two daughters, he went upstairs to get ready. Bidding them both a quick goodbye, they left to go to the parent-teacher interviews.

"So what do you want to do now?" Ruby asked her little sister, after they had ate dinner and Ruby had washed up their plates.

"Let's watch movies please?" Madison asked, her eyes shining.

"Sure, sounds great," Ruby agreed, smiling down at her. Madison took her big sister's hand and pulled her impatiently into the lounge room.

"Can we watch 'The Little Mermaid'?" Madison begged eagerly.

"Whatever you want kiddo," Ruby chuckled as she found the DVD and put it on.

"I wish I was Ariel," Madison murmured, as she snuggled up against Ruby, who put her arm around her. They were surrounded by fluffy pillows and Madison's favourite Barbie doona was spread over them.

After The Little Mermaid, they watched High School Musical (to Ruby's dislike, but she would put up with it for her little sister). About halfway through the movie, both girls fell asleep and didn't wake up until their parents arrived home.

After Ruby had taken a quick shower, she walked back into her bedroom with a towel around her. As she walked past her window, which faced her backyard and the forest that was behind her fence, she thought she saw a flash of something large and grey. Shaking her head, she continued to get dressed into her pajamas, thinking that it was just a trick of her mind due to her being so tired.

Although later on that night as she was finally starting to fall asleep, she could have sworn that she heard the howl of a wolf somewhere close by...

**A.N: Hmmm...so I wonder what the flash of grey was? Doesn't take a genius to work that one out! :) I know there was no Paul in this chapter and it may of being kind of slow and boring, but I just wanted to introduce Ruby's character and her life before all the good stuff happens! I'm sorry if there was an overload of information, I did try and space it all out a bit with her friends and family, etc. I promise Paul will be in the next chapter and things will definitely get more interesting! **

**Thankyou so much to **


	3. Chapter 3

**CRAZY LITTLE THING CALLED IMRINTING**

**By mz kittyy**

**Disclaimer: **Refer to chapter one.

**CHAPTER THREE**

Thursday morning dawned cloudy and grey, the yellow rays of sun barely peeping through the fluffy light grey clouds that covered most of the sky. The temperature was cool and the air was slightly misty with the promise of rain to come later on in the day.

Ruby awoke to the sound of the alarm on her phone going off.

_Beep, Beep...Beep, beep...Beep, beep..._

She reached out her arm, fumbling around on her bedside table until her hand located her phone. Her fingers searched for the button to turn it off and upon finding it, the annoying beeping noise was silenced.

She rolled over onto her back, pulling off the bed sheets. She lay there, staring up at the ceiling as she waited for whoever was in the bathroom to finish up, as she could hear the faint sound of the water running in the shower.

It was one of those rare mornings, where you had had a good nights sleep and awoken refreshed and energized, ready for the day ahead. Usually Ruby only felt this way on weekends, and she couldn't quite figure out her good mood as she had never been much of a morning person.

The running water in the bathroom suddenly switched off and the noise of the shower door opening and closing signaled that the bathroom was now free to be used. Ruby sat up in her bed, swinging her bare legs around to place gently on the floor as she pushed herself up. Crossing the room to her door, she opened it to reveal the hallway and she quietly padded down the long wooden corridor to the bathroom right at the end. The bathroom door opened and out came Anna, a towel loosely wrapped around her.

"Morning, honey," Anna greeted her step-daughter.

"Morning," Ruby replied politely.

"Take your time getting yourself ready, I'll make you breakfast," Anna said. "How do pancakes sound?"

"Great," Ruby answered with a smile as she passed Anna. Sometimes Ruby thought that Anna tried too hard to get Ruby to like her, when there was no need, Ruby didn't have a problem with her at all. Anna was nice enough to her (maybe a little bit _too _nice) and she obviously made Ruby's father very happy, which was all that mattered. Ruby continued on into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her and stripping off her pajamas. She hopped in the shower, relishing the soothing feeling of the warm water spraying gently against her skin.

After about ten minutes, Ruby shut off the shower and stepped out, wrapping a fluffy dark blue towel around her damp body. As she walked back to her room, she contemplated what to wear that day. Ruby was quite the fashion addict, and loved shopping as much as the next girl. When she reached her room, she slid open the large sliding doors of her wardrobe, stepping back and scrutinizing all of her outfits.

"What to wear..." she murmured to herself distractedly.

After much contemplation she finally decided on her light blue faded skinny jeans and her black cotton off-the-shoulder sweater. She chose a pair of dark grey flat-heeled ankle boots and a matching dark grey belt to sling around her waist as a finishing touch. She unbraided her hair, flipping her head upside down to shake out her auburn curls and then running her fingers lightly through her hair to smooth it out. After applying a light cover of foundation, some blush and mascara, Ruby was finally ready to go.

The smell of warm pancakes cooking drifted into her room, making her stomach growl. She picked up her schoolbag and exited her room, walking down the hallway and down the stairs taking them two at a time. She entered the kitchen, where Anna was busying herself over the stove and Madison was finishing off her pancakes.

"Mommy made yummy pancakes!" Madison announced delightedly. "Yummy, yummy, yummy!"

Ruby had to smile at her younger step-sister. She was _adorable. _

She took a seat at the kitchen table, just as Anna placed a plate of pancakes down in front of her.

"Thanks, Anna," Ruby said gratefully, coating her pancakes with maple syrup and digging in.

"I'll drop you at school today, it's starting to drizzle," Anna offered, sitting down across from the girls with a mug of coffee. She took a sip.

"Oh, you don't have to," Ruby replied. "I'm fine to walk."

"Nonsense," Anna dismissed her with a wave of her hand. "It's no trouble at all. And I'd hate for you to catch a cold."

"Okay, thank you," Ruby shrugged, not wanting to argue. Hell, she certainly wasn't going to pass up a ride to school! She finished her pancakes quickly and downed her glass of orange juice.

"That was delicious Anna," Ruby thanked her. "You're such a good cook."

Anna smiled at her step-daughter. "I still have to teach you to cook so that one day you can be as good as me," she joked. Ruby was absolutely _hopeless _at cooking, she even managed to burn toast! Anna had yet to attempt to teach her step-daughter how to cook, and it would certainly be a challenge when she did!

"See ya Maddie," Ruby spoke to her step-sister, bending down to kiss her on the forehead. "Love you kiddo."

"Love you more," Madison shot back, grinning up at her. "Have fun at school."

"I'll try," Ruby grimaced.

"Bye, Ruby," her dad's voice spoke up, he had just entered the room. He gave his eldest daughter a hug.

"Bye Dad, have a good day at work," she answered.

"I'll be back in 10," Anna called out as they walked out of the house, down the driveway and hopped into Anna's little blue ford.

"When do you want to start your driving lessons?" Anna asked Ruby, as she started up the car and pulled out of the driveway.

Ruby went quiet and Anna quickly realized what she had said.

"Oh no, Ruby I'm so sorry," Anna apologized to her. "I didn't mean to bring it up, I know you don't like to reminded about the accident."

"It's fine," Ruby answered tightly, turning her gaze to stare out the window and trying to rid herself of the bad memories that were threatening to resurface. Anna glanced at her step-daughter, worried.

"I'm fine," Ruby assured her, trying to make herself believe it. Anna decided to just drop it, she didn't want to upset Ruby, especially when she hadn't had any nightmares about the accident for over a month now.

Soon enough, Anna was pulling up right at the front of the school which was already pretty busy with students milling about before class. It was about 15 minutes until the bell for first period rang. Ruby opened the car door and stepped out, pulling out her schoolbag with her and slinging it over her shoulder.

"Bye Anna," she called out.

"Bye honey," Anna answered. "Have a good day."

Ruby shut the car door and turned around to face the school. As she walked towards the front entrance of the building, her eyes scanned the schoolyard, seeking out her friends. After a minute or so of searching, her eyes located them sitting under a tree a few yards away and she made her way towards them.

"Hey guys," she greeted them all with a smile.

"Hey," they all answered her back. Only Tristan, Simone and Gabrielle (another girl who sometimes hung out with them) were there at the moment, all lounging casually on the fresh green grass. Tasha almost always slept in and turned up to school at the last minute. Ruby took a seat on the grass next to Gabrielle, who had gone back to staring at her notebook deep in thought.

"Did you end up finishing yesterdays Trig homework?" Simone spoke up, looking up from the text book she was currently studying.

"Yeah, took me long enough," Ruby answered. "Those problems were _hard_."

"I attempted most of them, then gave up," Gabrielle added, leaning back on her arms. "Ruby, you're pretty good at Trig, do you think you could help me with the last few?" Gabrielle struggled with many of her subjects, and her friends were always eager to help her out.

"Sure," Ruby replied, stretching her legs out in front of her. She leaned over to take a look at Gabrielle's notebook.

"Oh my god, look at the front gate quickly," Simone said, a few minutes later.

All their heads snapped up to look towards the front gate to see Corinne and Todd walking up to the front building, hand in hand.

"Guess their date went well last night then," Gabrielle stated.

"Me, Tristan and Tasha have art class with her second period," Ruby said. "I'll get the details from her then."

"And me and Simone have history with her third period," Gabrielle added.

"Hey Ruby, why is Paul Stanton staring at you?" Tristan suddenly asked.

"Huh?" Ruby's head snapped up. "Where?"

"Over by the school gates, he's with the rest of his friends," Tristan answered her, pointing towards the front of the school.

Ruby looks where he was pointing and sure enough, Paul was standing there with a few of his 'huge' friends, looking at her. Just then, two of them who had their backs turned towards Ruby and her friends, turned around to sneak a quick look at her, then turned back around again to face Paul and his other friend.

"Ugh, I have no idea," Ruby grumbled. "I used to think he was just a jerk. Now I also think that he is extremely weird."

"Ruby, I think he's into you," Gabrielle said quietly, snickering.

"I don't think so," Ruby said, shaking her head. "I mean, he doesn't even know me!"

"Chill out Ruby," Tristan said. "He probably just thinks you're hot, and just pointed you out to his friends."

"So I really want to date a guy just because he thinks I'm hot?" Ruby exclaimed. "That's so shallow, I mean, there's more to people than just looks, and relationships are meant to be based on other things besides physical attraction."

"Want me to hit him for you?" Tristan offered jokingly. Although, he probably would if Paul did something to upset Ruby, Tristan was quite over-protective of his 'girl friends'. As was Bradley and Jason, Tristan's best mates who were also friends with the girls.

"Hmmm," Ruby contemplated. "I'll let you know!"

Suddenly the first bell rang out, signaling that they only had ten minutes to get to their lockers, grab their stuff and get to their first class of the day. The four of them slowly stood up, gathering up all their things and making their way to the main building, taking their time.

"English first, sucks to be me," Ruby mumbled as she trailed behind her friends.

"English isn't that bad," Gabrielle responded, falling back to walk with Ruby.

"Yeah it's alright," Ruby agreed. "Except for the fact that we're studying 'Romeo and Juliet' and the stupid story just about does my head in."

"Oh, I think it's _so _romantic," Gabrielle gushed.

"You would," Tristan called back to her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gabrielle countered playfully, and they started bickering.

The four of them made their way inside the building, bidding each other farewells and promises to see one another at lunch before going their separate ways to their lockers.

Ruby fiddled around with the dial on her locker until it clicked open, trying to to notice that Paul Stanton's locker was conveniently situated a few lockers down from hers. And that he kept darting little glances at her. She really didn't want to know what his little obsession was all about, in fact she couldn't care less. After the events of yesterday, she despised him and wouldn't give him the time of day. And with that thought in mind, she shut her locker door with a _bang_ and walked past him with her head held high and her eyes straight ahead.

"Hey, uh, wait up a second!" a strangely familiar voice called out to her.

Ruby frowned in confusion, slowing down her walk and turning her head slightly to see who had called out to her. It was Paul. Hence the familiarity of his voice, having heard it only just yesterday. And he was now walking beside her.

"It's Ruby, right?" Paul inquired.

She gave a stiff nod of her head, not really wanting to speak to him and acknowledge his presence.

"I'm Paul," he continued, seemingly oblivious to the fact that she was showing a lack of interest in conversing with him.

"I know," she replied through gritted teeth.

"Oh, I see you have English first period!" He spoke up again, still oblivious. "So do I!"

"Fantastic," Ruby muttered. "The best news I've heard all day."

"Okay, I guess someone got out of bed on the wrong side this morning," Paul joked.

Ruby suddenly came to a stop, as they had both reached the classroom. Before entering, she turned to face Paul, trying not to notice how incredibly good-looking he was.

_Ugh, stop it, Ruby! _She mentally scolded herself. _He is an ass! No matter how hot he is! _

"Why are you even talking to me?" she asked him, sighing as she crossed her arms.

Paul gave her a confused look. "Um...because you seem like a nice girl and I'd really like to get to know you?"

"But, why?" Ruby questioned again.

"Well...why not?" Paul grinned cockily at her.

"Do you not remember yesterday?" Ruby suddenly exploded. "When you bumped into me, told me to watch were I was going and then you were all set to go off your head until you turned around and got a look at me, and then blatantly checked me out!"

"Er...I'm sorry?" Paul tried.

"Yeah, so not good enough!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Look Ruby, I am very sorry that I was so rude to you yesterday," Paul sighed, seemingly sincere. But Ruby knew better, she knew it was all an act.

"And so what? You just expect that a simple 'sorry' will be enough and that I'll forgive you and we'll fall madly in love and live happily ever after?"

"Well, I wouldn't say no to that..."

"Ugh! You are _so _unbelievable, Stanton!" And with that, Ruby turned on her heel and marched into the classroom, leaving Paul standing in the hallway, staring after her in disbelief.

**A/N: Well...how was that? I know it may seem to be going a bit slowly, but I really wanted to establish Ruby's background, and have everyone get to know her character before anything happens between her and Paul. And just so you guys know, they won't be getting together straight away, it's going to take some time! There's going to be a lot of bickering and fighting between the two first! **

**Oh, and as I live in Australia and we have a different driving system here than in America, would someone please explain to me how you guys get your licenses? I have no idea! **

**I hope you all enjoyed it and THANK YOU SO MUCH to those of you who took the time to review and add me to their favourite stories/author alerts! You guys make my day :)**

**xoxo -Kath-**


	4. Chapter 4

**CRAZY LITTLE THING CALLED IMPRINTING**

**By mzkittyy  
**

**Disclaimer: **Refer to chapter one.

**CHAPTER FOUR**

The rest of the week passed by uneventfully. Ruby and her friends were loaded with homework including essays upon essays and pop quizzes so that took up most of her spare time. She barely had any time to do anything else besides study so it was a big relief when Friday afternoon finally rolled around. She could hardly wait for the weekend! Ruby and her friends were all going to spend Saturday down at First Beach as it was meant to be a rare, beautiful sunny day.

Saturday morning arrived bright and clear with not a single cloud in the brilliant blue sky. Ruby rolled over in her bed, enjoying the warmth of the sun through her bedroom window. She checked the time on her phone as she hopped out of bed. It was 8:30. They had all arranged to all meet at the beach about 10:00 before it got too hot. They had planned to mess around in the water for a bit, then have a nice little picnic lunch on the beach, and then spend the rest of the afternoon with the girls probably sunbaking and the guys surfing. Or at least attempting to.

Ruby decided to take a shower to wake her up a bit. Tasha was picking her up at 9:30 and she wanted to be ready by then as she hated to keep people waiting. She hummed quietly to herself as she stood in the shower, warm water pouring over her.

After her shower, she returned to her bedroom, trying to be quiet. Her dad, Anna and Madison all liked to sleep in on weekends and didn't normally get out of bed until around 10:00. When she got back to her room, she decided to wear her blue and white polka-dot bikini and chose a thin cotton wraparound skirt which was a similar colour blue to her swimsuit. Ruby didn't feel comfortable wearing only a bikini, instead choosing to wear either board shorts or a wraparound skirt and a bikini top. She was a little bit on the short side, and slightly pear-shaped, being quite slim from the waist upwards but slightly bigger on her bottom half. She quickly pulled a plain white singlet top over her bikini top and tied her strawberry blonde hair back into a messy bun. She grabbed her oversized black sunglasses (they looked like designer brand sunglasses, but they were from the local junk store and cost her only $10) and packed a towel, sunblock, her Ipod, and a magazine into her beach bag. Soon enough, she was ready to go.

She came downstairs into the kitchen, grabbing a banana for breakfast and sitting down on the kitchen chair. She peeled and ate her banana and just as she was finishing it off, she heard a car pull into her driveway. She tossed the banana peel into the bin, picked up her beach bag and walked out the door where Tasha's silver car was waiting.

"Hey Tash," Ruby greeted her friend as she hopped into the car.

"Good morning," Tasha replied, pulling out of the driveway. "How nice is the weather today? Perfect for the beach!"

"Yeah I know," Ruby agreed. "It's probably the warmest day I've ever seen here, and we have to make the most of it! I hope I get a tan! Maybe then I'll be able to blend in around here a bit more." Ruby wasn't pale or anything, her skin was a light olive colour. Compared to the rest of the La Push residents though, she looked like a ghost!

Soon they were pulling up to the small car park near First Beach. They were already a few other cars parked there as well.

"It'll probably get busy here today," Tasha commented. "We don't get very many days like this around here!"

"Oh look, the others are here already," Ruby pointed out. Their other friends had seemed to have just gotten to the beach moments before Ruby and Tasha, as they were unfolding their towels onto the sand. The two girls made their way over to them.

"Hey everyone," Tasha called out as they approached their friends.

"Hi," they chorused back.

"Pretty busy already, huh?" Tristan noted as he pulled off his white t-shirt.

_Woah, _Ruby thought, taking in the sight of him without a shirt on. His body was strong, lean and toned to the max, and he was _hot. _Ruby blushed as she realized she wasn't the only girl ogling him, and quickly averted her eyes. She felt a nudge to her side and looked up swiftly to find Tasha grinning at her as she cocked her head in Tristan's direction.

"_I know," _Ruby whispered to her friend.

"Damn that boy is _fine," _Tasha murmured back.

Ruby took off her singlet top, tossing it into her beach bag. She picked up her sun screen and began lathering it on herself.

"Oh great, you remembered sun screen," Gabrielle spoke up. "I totally forgot mine!"

"It's cool, you can borrow mine," Ruby offered.

"I'm just using tanning oil," Simone said. "I want to be more tanner."

"The only safe tan is a fake tan!" Tasha warned her, to which Simone replied by rolling her eyes and sticking her tongue out.

"Hey can one of you do my back for me?" Ruby asked her friends. "I can't reach it."

"I'll do it," Tristan spoke up, coming over to her and taking the bottle of sunscreen off her.

"Oh, um, okay," Ruby stammered, as he squirted some sunscreen onto his hands and began rubbing it into her back. She was blushing now, as her so-called friends winked at her and giggled amongst themselves. Ruby gritted her teeth and sincerely hoped that Tristan wasn't paying attention to her friends suggestive looks. But Tristan's hands felt _so good _on her back and she found herself relaxing.

"There you go," he said, when he had finished. "I think it's all rubbed in properly now."

"Thanks," she answered, a bit flustered now. She didn't know what was wrong with her, she didn't usually get all shy and embarrassed around guys.

"Ooooh check out the La Push gang," Gabrielle spoke up, cocking her head towards her left. Ruby squinted in the direction she was looking at and saw none other than Paul and the rest of his friends messing about near the water.

_God he looks amazing without a shirt on, _Ruby thought before she could stop herself. _Oh my god, what the hell is wrong with me today? Why am I so boy-crazy all of a sudden?_

"Well, they can't be that much trouble," Corinne said fairly. "I mean, Kim Connweller is dating Jared Thail, you know Paul's best friend? And she's a real good girl, like really smart and everything. I don't think she'd be hanging out with them if they were bad news."

"Well, I've heard that they go around calling themselves 'the protectors' or whatever?" Simone added. "Like, keeping the peace or something. They all hang out with that Sam Uley guy, the one who's on the La Push council."

Ruby leaned back on her arms, soaking up the sun and listening to her friends gossiping. She didn't really care about Paul and his gang of 'protectors'. Well, at least that's what she kept telling herself.

"You ready to go in?" Tasha asked, nudging Ruby. "I'm kinda hot now, I need to cool off."

"Sure," Ruby replied, getting to her feet.

"Last one in has to shout everyone an ice-cream later on," Todd called out as he ran towards the water. Everyone immediately jumped up and ran towards the water as well, shrieking as they dived into the fresh, cool water. Once they had all calmed down a bit, they all started arguing over who was actually the last one in, as no one had been paying much attention. Eventually, they just decided to let it go and buy their own ice-creams.

After a few hours of splashing around in the water, they all decided to get out of the water and dry off so they could grab some lunch. Ruby had had a lot of fun, although from time to time she could feel a prickling sensation on the back of her neck as if someone was watching her. She tried to shake it off and not pay any attention to it though. When she got back to her towel, she put on her white singlet top and wrung out her wraparound skirt to get most of the water out. Sitting down on the towel as the boys unpacked all the food, Ruby happened to glance up to see none other than Paul Meraz and Jared Thail accompanied by his girlfriend, Kim, walking over towards them. Ruby narrowed her eyes, taking out her sunglasses and putting them on. She then leaned back on her arms, trying her best to act indifferent, like she _so _didn't care that he was there.

"Hey Paul, Jared," Todd spoke up. "Kim." He nodded to each of them.

"Sit down, guys," Simone smiled brightly, her gaze directed at Paul.

"Are you sure we're not intruding?" Kim asked, chewing her bottom lip.

"Of course not!" Tasha answered back, flashing the shy girl a warm smile. "There's more than enough for everyone."

"Oh well, that's good then," Kim replied, returning the smile. "Jared and Paul here have the appetite of like, fifty horses."

"Typical men," Gabrielle said with a roll of her eyes, and the girls giggled amongst themselves while the guys just rolled their eyes.

"I hope you don't mind that Todd invited them to hang with us for a bit," Corinne whispered to Ruby. "He's pretty good friends with Jared."

"Why would I mind?" Ruby whispered back, shrugging her shoulders to show that she didn't care. When, in actual fact, she did. But no one had to know that.

It just so happened that there was an empty spot next to Ruby and she realised this as Paul moved towards her. Thinking quickly, Ruby called out, "Kim, come and sit next to me! I'm just dying to know where you got your swimsuit from." Satisfied, Ruby couldn't help but smirk a bit as Paul stopped in his tracks and Kim sat down next to the red-headed girl instead. Jared took a seat next to Kim and Paul sat in between his friend and Simone, who looked quite pleased with the seating arrangements.

"I just got it from that new swimsuit store that opened up in the La Push mall," Kim answered Ruby's question. "They have so many different varieties in there."

"Oh, well I'll definitely have to check it out then!" Ruby replied. "Chicken?" She offered her a plate of fried chicken legs.

Kim helped herself to a few and so did Jared. Ruby went to pass the plate to Paul and as she did, his fingers lightly brushed hers briefly, sending a chill down her spine and causing her heart to skip a beat. She pulled her hand back quickly, averting her eyes from him.

Lunch passed by rather quickly with a lot of chatter and laughter as the group of friends devoured every bit of their food. Ruby noticed that Simone was paying particular attention to Paul, throwing her head back and laughing at everything he said. Right now, for example, Simone was squeezing his bicep and going on about how toned and _muscular _he was and how many times a week did he go to the gym. She was flirting shamelessly with him and it bothered Ruby more than she cared to admit.

"You don't get along very well with Simone?" A soft voice spoke up to her left. It was Kim who had spoken.

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked, her face etched in confusion.

"Well all through lunch, you've been glaring a hole right through the poor girls head," Kim answered matter-of-factly.

"No, not at all!" Ruby quickly exclaimed. "I love her to death, she's a good friend." She flashed Kim a bright smile to prove her statement.

"Okay," Kim smiled back. "Although if I didn't know any better, I'd say that you have a little crush on Paul." The pretty black-haired girl grinned knowingly at Ruby.

"Uh, no, I don't think so," Ruby defended herself firmly. "He isn't a very nice person. I mean, that temper of his..."

"You know, you shouldn't be so quick to judge him," Kim replied. "When I first met him, I thought of him exactly the way you do. Then I got to know him a bit better and found out that he isn't actually that bad. He is a nice person, underneath it all."

"Yeah and he seems to have his heart set on me going out with him," Ruby added.

"Just give him a chance," Kim said. "Let him prove to you that he isn't who you think he is."

"I'll see," Ruby answered with a shrug of her shoulders.

After their conversation, both girls tuned back into the rest of the group. The boys had decided to try and surf and the girls decided to lay back and relax under the sun. The rest of the afternoon passed by uneventfully, and thankfully, Paul didn't try to talk to Ruby at all which made her afternoon a whole lot better. When the sun eventually started to set, the group of friends decided to go and get ice-cream, which they did, before deciding to go home. They said their goodbyes to each other, and Ruby managed to avoid hugging Paul goodbye, and then they each went home to their houses.

As soon as Ruby got home, she took a long, hot bath to soothe her poor sunburnt skin and the changed into her comfy pyjamas. No sooner had she collapsed on her bed that she fell fast asleep.

**A/N: Oh god, please don't shoot me! I'm really, truly, sorry that I took so long to update! I had the dreaded writers block once again, it hits me from time to time and I hate it! Does anyone have any tips on how to beat it? **

**Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I have to admit, it's not the best chapter and you may find it a bit boring. But from the next few chapters, things will really heat up between Ruby and Paul and they will have a lot more interaction and a lot more fighting and arguing! Also, I changed chapters 2 and 3 slightly, so I'd advise you all to go back and re-read them. I've decided to give Ruby a big reason for her move to La Push, besides her getting herself into trouble. Although, it is rather tragic and you won't be finding out until a bit later on in the story! **

**My authors notes always seem to go on forever...oh well a big thankyou to those who reviewed/added me to their favourite stories, I love you all so much *tear* and it's all because of you guys that I keep on writing. You are all my inspiration and I just want to hug you all to death! :)**

**xoxo -Kath- **


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